1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for picking up animal waste, and more particularly, relates to a device for the hands-free collection of dog or other animal waste and its easy disposal into an attached bag by a single, sweeping motion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many people enjoy the pleasures associated with owning one or more dogs as pets, such as the companionship, safety, and the love the pet can provide. The pleasures of owning a dog are also accompanied by much responsibility, including feeding, training, and cleaning up after the dog.
Most individuals do not have the luxury of owning vast expanses of property where a dog can run and "do its business" far away from where the owner, and perhaps his or her young children, live and carry on their own activities out of doors. Rather, most individuals live in apartments, condominiums, or homes with limited outdoor areas in which a dog must be trained to urinate and defecate, thus necessitating frequent or often immediate clean up of the dog's feces to keep the area clean for the use of others or the owner's own family. Indeed, in common areas of apartment buildings and condos, as well as in public parks and open spaces, the law may require the dog's owner to pick up after his or her pet immediately, or face a penalty.
This rather unpleasant task is often dealt with by picking up the feces with a plastic glove or bag, or perhaps by scooping up the waste with a shovel and placing it in a bag, a messy and time consuming task if one is faced with cleaning up an entire yard or pen. Further, using one's hands, even if it is encased in a glove or plastic bag, or a shovel poses the risk of getting the feces onto one's skin or clothing, an unsanitary and unpleasant experience for even the most devoted dog owner.
A number of attempts have been made to address these and other problems associated with cleaning up after one's pet by providing various types of devices for scooping up or otherwise disposing of dog feces without using one's hands. For instance, Gish in U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,146 discloses a V-shaped scoop into which a bag may be placed to collect animal feces. However, Gish requires a paddle to push the feces into the scoop device, thus necessitating the use of both hands. Also, it is likely a plastic grocery bag would easily tear in use by its placement around the ground-contacting edges of the scoop portion.
Rose in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,337 discloses a scoop having a very narrow cup secured to one end of an elongated handle. Again, Rose's device suggests the use of a second implement to scoop the feces into the narrow opening of the cup; Rose fails to include a bag or other containment means for the collected waste. U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,704 to Li shows a similar frame located at an angled end of a handle to which a refuse bag is attached for waste collection. Again, Li's rather small scoop frame suggests difficulty in picking up feces on the ground without the use of another implement, and also requires smaller, specialized collection bags for use with the frame.
Kohler, Heinrichson, Lu, Clapper, and Cortinas in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,562,319, 5,350,208, 5,540,470, 5,335,953, and 5,320,393, respectively, also describe devices contemplated for use in retrieving and disposing of animal feces. In general, each of these devices includes some type of manually operated switch or level apparatus located at the upper end of an elongated handle, which the user must operate to open and close jaws or similar sections of a scoop portion in order to trap the feces within the scoop. Several suggest the use of a bag or other containment means attached to the device for retention and later disposal of the feces after collection. While these devices eliminate the need for using both hands to collect the feces, they are necessarily heavier by the inclusion of the manually operated switches and levers and more complex operating structure. Further, their generally more complex designs and mechanical parts would require more maintenance and repair and more time spent cleaning the various components after use, and may cost more than a pet owner wishes to spend on such a tool.
Other patents of interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,688,483 and Des. 33,888 to Hamilton and Visser, respectively.